The Gift of Our Attention

Day after day,
a sad, deranged man
vies desperately for our attention,
and we, in our complicity,
give him what he asks for.

Will we ever learn
to break free of this compulsion,
like rubberneckers on a highway,
as we pause in our own lives
to wallow in the mire
of his sad imaginings?

The gift of our attention
is a poison pill,
polluting all our spirits
with anger and fear,
dooming us, and him
to an endless loop
of fevered dreams.

It is up to each of us
to break this cycle,
and help to heal
our country’s wounded soul.